Ortiz concedes Texas House race

Democratic Rep. Solomon Ortiz has conceded to Republican Blake Farenthold, handing the GOP an upset victory in the race for the South Texas seat.

With local election officials completing their manual recount of votes cast in the Corpus Christi-area 27th District race, Ortiz trailed Farenthold by nearly 800 votes.

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Ortiz called Farenthold at 8:04 p.m. CST Monday to concede the race, according to a statement from Ortiz’s campaign.

“Although I gained votes during the manual recount, I did not surpass my opponents lead,” Ortiz said in the statement. “Therefore, with great respect and admiration in the Democratic process, I congratulate my opponent, Mr. R. Blake Farenthold, in his election to the 27th Congressional District of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Republicans have now won at least 62 House seats. The GOP leads in one of four unresolved races.

The race had been widely seen as out of reach for Republicans, with neither the National Republican Congressional Committee nor the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spent any independent expenditure funds on the race.

Over the span of his 14-term career, Ortiz had never picked up less than 56 percent of the vote.